Tipped next Manchester United manager: I inspired Guardiola

Manchester United may not be able to tempt Pep Guardiola away from Bayern Munich, but they may be able to lure the man who inspired him.

Dutch international coach Louis van Gaal is the bookies favourite to take over after the World Cup, and he is a man not shy in his own ability.

After Guardiola's appointment at Bayern, he famously commented: "Guardiola's appointment was not a surprise for me as Bayern always go for the best coaches out there. And Pep follows the Van Gaal-philosophy. I think it's a fantastic choice."

And that's a comment indulged by two-time Champions League winning coach Guardiola himself.

The Spaniard wrote in his autobiography, "My jaw dropped when I saw Van Gaal's Ajax play, they did everything a football team should do perfectly in my eyes."

Van Gaal is of course a Champions League winning coach with Ajax in 1995, and was runner-up with Bayern in 2010.

The Dutchman's eye for detail is part of what makes him a great tactician, and his willingness to hand chances to young players is legendary.

Van Gaal credits among his attributes as being able to get the best out of players at his disposal, and certainly helped a certain Pep Guardiola recapture his form in his playing days at Barcelona during the late 90s.

For United, hiring Guardiola from Bayern may just be a pipe dream, but in Van Gaal they may just have the next best thing - dare say even better?

Dan Coombs

Dan Coombs has been writing for HITC Sport full time since 2012 and has helped the website grow it's audience considerably during this period, while managing a team of writers. He has interviewed high profile names including Stuart Pearce and his work has been cited in Javier Hernandez's biography. In addition to football, Dan is a big fan of the NFL and NBA.